Great hosts have been known to doodle a fantasy seating chart for their ultimate dinner party. That kind of dreaming becomes reality at Time magazine’s annual Time 100 dinner, which took place this year at Manhattan’s Rose Hall, the home of Jazz at Lincoln Center. The event celebrates the magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” special issue, and the guests included Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Chen Lihua (the richest woman in China), Martha Stewart, Tilda Swinton, Alice Walton, Harvey Weinstein, Kristen Wiig, and Chelsea Handler, who was on the arm of hotelier Andre Balazs. To liven up the cocktail hour, we asked Time 100 honorees and other notable guests to tell us about influential people in their lives. While we had them buttonholed, we also managed to work in a few questions about the style of their homes.

Barbara Walters, wearing a vintage red Bill Blass dress that matched the entrance carpet, not only had a famous father (nightclub owner Lou Walters) but she’s been interviewing top celebrities for decades, of course. “I think Abraham Lincoln is the only president I didn’t get to interview,” she joked. “But when I was growing up, there were not many female journalists to look up to. I never had a mentor.”

What Walters likes most about the interiors Mario Buatta designed for her home, she says “is that it is very comfortable. You can put your feet up at the end of the day.”

Arianna Huffington enthusiastically cited family as a key influence. “Oh, my God, yes, my mother—she taught me never to be afraid of failing,” said the Huffington Post founder. “And I met a lot of people at the Cambridge Union, where I was debating, such as George Steiner, a professor who was a phenomenal speaker and writer. Some of the politicians who came and spoke really moved us.”

Huffington has a house on each coast by different designers. “The one in Los Angeles is Italianate, with a lot of color. In New York it’s very simple and monochromatic.”

Who influenced Matt Lauer? “The obvious answer,” said the Time 100 honoree, “is my parents—a cliché. But also there were people who took a chance on me when I was down, like Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric. I would count him high on my list.”

For his Today show cohost Ann Curry, it was her father. “He told me that no matter what I wanted to do in life, I should do something of service, because at the end of my life I would know that it mattered that I was born,” she revealed. “If I had to pick two great ones, I’d say Gloria Steinem—I wouldn’t be here without her—and Walter Cronkite. When I met him, I could barely speak. And when he was told that I admired him so much, he taped a statement for an awards ceremony for me. I was so surprised by it; all of a sudden, there was Walter Cronkite saying nice things about me and my work.”

A fashion leader, Rihanna wore a shoulderless fuchsia dress by Marchesa that revealed a tattoo written in reverse script. “It does not get much better than this—being a part of this list,” said the singer, who performed three songs later in the evening. “It doesn’t feel real. This is a list of people you admire that you never think you’d be a part of it.” Influencers? “My family, of course. I have an incredible family. But to me, the idea is not to be influenced but to be yourself.”

“I met Stevie Wonder,” said David Lauren, strolling into the event with his wife, Lauren Bush Lauren. “That was pretty cool. I was going through an airport, and I just walked over and shook his hand.”

Since her uncle and grandfather were both United States presidents, one imagines Mrs. Bush Lauren, who is also the founder of the nonprofit FEED Projects, might have met a few heavy hitters growing up. “Kristi Yamaguchi, the skater,” she said, “was huge for me.”

Dr. Mehmet Oz, as charming in person as he is on TV, was wowed by cardiac surgeon Christiaan Barnard as a kid. “I was probably about 10 when I met this doctor who did the world’s first heart transplant,” Dr. Oz recounted. “He came to visit my family, and I remember sitting with him. To me, he was like a Navy fighter pilot. He had this magical ability to do things that were daredevil and succeed. People like that can influence you in a profound way.”

And the Dr. Oz interior? “Eclectic,” interjected his wife, Lisa Oz. “And not necessarily in a good way. I need a designer. If you can recommend someone great, please let me know.”

“It’s an Italian villa–style house,” said Dr. Oz. “And you can live in it—it’s not a museum or a shrine, but it’s elegant. We have a lot of 18th- and 19th-century paintings, which I think make it look cool. We have some more modern pieces as well. Even though it has a graceful, older appeal, it’s a new house. There are no curtains. We face Manhattan, and when I get up, I see the sun come up over the city. It’s a high.”

Mia Farrow, the daughter of actress Maureen O’Sullivan and director John Farrow, described being sick as a child, and said it was doctors who impressed her, not Hollywood celebrities. “It was the time of polio, and doctors were afraid of their patients. I remember one doctor who wasn’t. He had calmness, courage, savvy. Later, I would meet Nelson Mandela and Vaclav Havel, people who stood for what they believe in. I’ve been fortunate to meet a lot of amazing people.”

And her interior? “My mother always said, ‘Don’t follow any fashion. If you’re never fashionable, you’ll never be out of fashion.’ My look is old and comfortable, with no edges. If I see a sharp corner, I have a negative visceral reaction.”

Writer and conservative political commentator Ann Coulter, who, at times has an edge on camera, has a soft spot for family, citing her oldest brother especially. “When he was in law school and I was in junior high, I’d stay with him at his Upper East Side apartment,” she recounted. “He’d make me read a book by Milton Friedman and quiz me on it before we could go out drinking. And Phyllis Schlafly is fabulous. I met her at a DAR [Daughters of the American Revolution] meeting with my mother.”

Representing the opposite end of the political spectrum, Ralph Nader described a brush with greatness he had at Princeton when he encountered Norman Thomas, who was speaking at both mens’ alma mater. “He ran for president six times on the Socialist ticket,” said Nader. “He really pushed Roosevelt to adopt a lot of programs that we now take for granted—Social Security and, later, Medicare and unemployment compensation. I ended up walking him to his hotel.” Apparently an inquisitive guest himself, Nader said that he asked Thomas about his greatest achievement. Thomas replied: “Having the Democrats steal my platform.”

So how does perennial presidential candidate Nader live at home? “It’s pretty practical,” he said. “Sort of old Navy.” But Old Navy doesn’t have a furniture line, pointed out the Inquisitive Guest. “No,” Nader said. “I really mean old Navy, like World War II Navy.”